It’s absolutely Friday, finally, and I can’t think of a better way to end the week than taking part in Mrs.4444′s Fabulous Friday Fragments.  This is the chance to empty the mind of all those fleeting thoughts and snippets of information into one post-a little bit like grinding leftovers into hash, actually, only without the slightly moldy taste (one would hope).

***I am coming down with yet another cold, but this time it coincides nicely with what is forecast to be the worst weekend of the year, weather-wise.  I plan on going to the library tomorrow and stocking up on cheap romance novels (not really) and tea and nurturing myself on the couch.  Cold or not, I can’t think of a better way to spend a rainy/snowy weekend.

***However, it is Owen’s birthday tomorrow, and it was Sam’s on Wednesday, so I might have to get up for a little while.  They don’t know it yet but we are planning on taking them to see Shrek 4  as part of their birthday celebration.  I thought the first movie was funny as hell, but after the second one, well, one I would rather go see even a Nicholas Sparks movie than watch another sequel.  However, both boys are dying to see it, so there you go.

***Anyone else been watching the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions?  Tonight is the last night, and I am pretty excited about it.  We watch nearly every night, so we have already seen all of the contestants at different times during the year, so it has been excellent to see them come back and kick some ass.  I love the guy who is currently in the lead, Vijay, because he is SO smart, obviously, but also because he has tried out for Jeopardy over and over again and finally got in.  I took the online test and it was so hard, I think I only got maybe a third of the questions correct.  However, at this point any of the three contestants DESERVE to win.

***And oh my god, am I a total nerd or WHAT?  Did I really just write a paragraph about a television show on my BLOG?  And admit that I really want to be on Jeopardy! someday?  Yikes.

***A couple of people have asked, and I thought I posted about it one time but in case I didn’t, Hannah is having a little girl.  I believe that Ms.Moon is planning a virtual baby shower for some time in August, and Hannah will be registered at Target.  We also have a Wal-Mart here, in case any of you are die-hard Wal-Mart shoppers (notice I hate them so much I won’t even link to them?).  I thank in advance those of you who have asked; you simply have no idea how much it means to us.

***I have been taking on online class this week for work, the last class I need to take/test I need to pass in order to get my CISR designation.  I have to say it is a lot more boring to take a class online than it is to go to one, so it has been kind of a struggle for me.  When I am DOING my job, it isn’t boring at all, but some of the classes really are.  Still, I will be pretty excited to get this designation; it is visible proof of the work I have done to get to where I am, and that can only be a good thing.

***Sam’s dad didn’t even deign to email Sam on his birthday.  Anyone surprised?

I am pretty sure that I have emptied my brain of enough to make it through another week, so now I will send you over to see Mrs.4444 to partake of the offerings of her other participants.  Have a good weekend, everyone!

Well, it’s Friday, and there is no holiday today, so here are the Fragments from my mind.  If you would like to dump yours as well, head on over to Mrs.4444 for the rules and the really neat button, and go to town!

***I am so tired of hearing about Tiger Woods.  For one thing, while what he allegedly did is slimy and I certainly would not want to marry or date him, he isn’t any different than quite a few non-famous sleazebags-why is it more our business simply because he is famous?  For another thing, why did we decide that sports “stars” needed to be exempt from human emotions and failings?  Last, it annoys the shit out of me that sponsors are pulling their endorsements; does the fact that he is a philanderer (and see previous point) actually negate the fact that he is THE greatest golfer?  Um, no.  Stupid, yes.  Unfaithful and power-drunk, absolutely.  But a shitty player?  No.

***Due to the fact that several members of the class went crazy when they had a substitute this week, Hannah’s class no longer gets to perform anywhere.  Needless to say, she is really disappointed, and angry.  As am I-she has worked so hard in this class, and grown so much that it is a shame that she isn’t going to be able to showcase all she has learned.  It also annoys me that as a whole, these kids are vociferous about their desire to not be seen simply as those kids from the Alternative school, but this kind of behavior certainly does nothing to dispel the idea that they are, in fact, those kids.

***I am so ready for it to be Friday.  I know that I was glad to get back into the normal routine, and I am, but at the same time, it seems like it has been a hard week.  I have no doubt that next week will be better, now that we have all become acclimated.  Really, none of us wanted to get out of bed this morning, and when I asked Eli if he was going to shower, he thought about it for a second and said,”No, I think I’ll just stink today,” and rolled back over in bed.

***Speaking of funny things kids say, Owen was telling me what he had at lunch at daycare one day this week: chicken strings, smushed potatoes, and oranges.  And, he says, “It was dreezing (freezing) good!”  And speaking of freezing, on Wednesday it was really quite mild so he went to daycare wearing just a sweater over his shirt.  It was about 30 degrees colder when I went to pick him up, so yesterday morning he wore a shirt, TWO sweaters, his coat, and a pair of shorts under his jeans.  Apparently he does have a bit of his mommy in him; I don’t like to be cold either.

***I get that we are all responsible for taking care of ourselves; emotionally, physically, spiritually…I know that, I believe that I can be as happy or as miserable as I choose to be, and most of the time I work pretty consistently toward giving myself loving self-care.  Every once is awhile, though, I want to scream, because sometimes taking care of yourself and standing true to what you believe is really painful.

***Steve and I haven’t had our date night since before the holidays; I think we are going out to eat tonight before the AA meeting, and I am inordinately excited about it.  I have really missed that block of time just for the two of us, and I can tell that the relationship has suffered for the lack of it.  Not suffered in the sense that either of us is walking around pissed off or unhappy, but suffering in the sense of having gotten mired down in the day-to-day kids/jobs/families/dogs tedium.  It will be good to get back into this habit as well.

Okay, I feel like I just blew my nose really hard and cleaned out my sinuses-only this time, it was my head, and now my brain is free of the mental snot that builds up.  If you feel the need to do the same, join us all over at Half Past Kissin’ Time; we would love to have you!

For more of the Saturday Edition of Friday Fragments, visit Mrs.4444 at Half Past Kissin’ Time!

***A helpful tip for next Christmas: When there is a family member who already thinks you are slightly lower than a piece of dogshit on her shoe, do NOT attempt to parent her child when he rips a toy out of your own child’s hand and then pushes him down.  Never mind that said parent was not just not paying attention but flat ignoring the fact that her child is, well, mean, it still is not at all beneficial to attempt to protect your own child from being hurt.

***The holiday ended none too soon.  Our poor tree is dropping needles all over the floor, and we are in the process right now (meaning Steve is in the process of) of undecorating.

***Another helpful tip for next year: do not let all four kids sleep in one big bed on Christmas Eve unless they are going to sleep in a room that does not have an alarm clock.  The rule has always been that we do not get up before 6:00, and I have to have coffee ready and in a cup before anything can even be looked at.  Eli set his alarm for 5:45, so that when my clock flipped over to 6:00, they were all giggling outside the door with coffee in hand.

***We went to church at R. and J’s church on Christmas Eve; I was very emotional anyway, but when, during the Prayers of  The People, a lovely woman called B. specifically prayed for all single mothers, I wept unashamedly.  I know it’s all about the ritual, the whole church thing on Christmas Eve, but when Sam and I knelt for communion, it felt very profound and spiritual and peaceful.

***Dinner with a Priest, a deacon, and an openly and flamboyantly gay man (along with the rest of us) is more fun than you can imagine.  The priest, R. said (jokingly) that he was a little loopy because he had to finish off the communion wine, and it just took off from there.  I had no idea.  It was so lovely to be with these people who really like me and my family, and who all also share the same rather odd sense of humor.  The woman who does NOT like us was not there (the I-Cook-Better-Than-You woman) and it really made all the difference in the world.

***As soon as I finish off the caramel Chex mix and the orange-chocolate and the leftover rolls and the rest of the pie, I am not eating another sweet, junky, happy thing.  I swear.

***As hard as the holidays tend to be for me, this one was better than usual, and I feel really glad today.  It was all I had hoped for, the kids were all well-pleased with their gifts and mostly, the being together was the best.  I was slightly annoyed yesterday morning after we got done opening presents-everyone either went back to bed or disappeared downstairs, and I felt a little negelcted.  But then I remembered that it was their holiday, too, and not really about me at all, and I enjoyed the rest of the day.

Well, I think that is really all I have for the week.  Now if you want to read more fragments, go see Mrs.4444, the amazing host of Friday Fragments.

If you haven’t yet joined in on Friday Fragments (hosted by Half Past Kissin’ Time), today is a great day to do it.  After reading my post, why not meander over to her place and check out some of the other great fragmenters?

***Sam accidentally broke our camera last weekend; he was messing around and dropped it, and the screen shattered.  I had hoped that it might still take pictures and that I would just have to actually look through the lens and hope I got a good shot, but no, that isn’t working out.  I am actually pretty sad about this; it was the first digital camera I have ever had, and I just can’t afford to replace it.  Damn it to hell.  Do you all know how much Owen and Co. are going to GROW, and you won’t even be privy to it?

***Speaking of growing, Eli is going to a friend’s house tonight to watch movies.  This friend is a girl, and there are six other people going as well.  I asked him if this was a girlfriend, and he said, “Not yet, but tonight might be the night I get up enough guts to ASK her.”  I can’t believe he is actually thinking about possibly maybe asking a girl out.  He is definitely growing up.

***Me, I just keep growing out.  A friend of mine bought some chocolate stars and actually sent them to work with me so as to remove temptation from her house.  Wasn’t that thoughtful?  I found that I quite like to stick one in my mouth and then take a sip of hot coffee, and the chocolate gets all soft and melty…..sigh.  No wonder my pants don’t fit anymore.

***I would really like to know what Anne Lamott thinks about President Obama.  I have been re-reading all of my books by her (because she is my best friend, she just doesn’t know it), and she wrote several anti-Bush books, so I am curious to know what her thoughts about the new Prez. are.  If any of you have an in with her, could you ask her and let me know?  Also on this same subject, I wonder a little bit if I should be concerned that I really and honestly believe that we (Anne Lamott and I) would  be friends if we knew each other.  I also obsess a little bit about how I might go about meeting her.  Clearly I have more than one screw loose.  And have a few stalkerish tendencies.

***As the weather gets cooler, the bar business starts heating up.  Walking to the office from my car this morning, I saw two broken bar glasses, a couple of empty beer bottles, a mostly-empty cake box, and a pair of underwear. Before you know it, I will be walking over frozen puke; ah, winter, she is on her way.

***Thank you all for your thoughts on my post yesterday.  I have decided that I am not going to decide anything today, but will instead think of all your words, pray about it, and trust that the exact right answer for everyone will come.  Hannah has already taken herself out of the equation, so that is one problem solved. 

For more Friday Fragments fun, you know what to do.

Friday Fragments is proudly hosted by Mrs.4444 over at Half Past Kissin’ Time.  For a growing list of participants, head on over to check her out!

***Gratitude abounds in the knowledge that my tires are still under warranty, AND road hazard is covered.  It involves a certain amount of hassle for Steve in that his job is to call the company and jump through all the hoops (and by that I mean it really IS his job; he is in the service department at a Chevy dealership), but with any luck, I will have a brand new tire within a few weeks.  Whew-financial bullet dodged.

***Also in the dodging bullets category, while the washer isn’t fixed, per se, it is no longer leaking water all over the floor.  The trick is to run smaller loads (crap; six people = a buttload of laundry) AND to keep the clean litter box being used to catch the leaking water emptied out.    So it isn’t ideal; few things truly are.  However, I am so grateful that I don’t have to make a trip to the laundromat, which makes me feel dirty just walking in (and before anyone gets all up in arms about that, I have already paid my dues by having had to lug the three older kids to the laundry for about 4 years.  I have paid my dues).  And if it can be babied through until after the first of the year, I will be so happy.

***I am grateful to have a place-here in blogland-to write down all those icky feelings I was feeling yesterday.  Simply by articulating, ‘Hey, I am sad and upset and blah blah blah,” the power was taken out of those same feelings and I felt much better throughout the day.  It is a reminder to me to take my own advice and, “Feel however you feel and move on.” 

***We still haven’t carved our pumpkins for Halloween; too many other pressing needs in the evenings.  And in keeping with the gratitude thing, isn’t it nice that if we don’t end up carving them, I won’t have to go buy more pumpkin to can?  Really, that is a win-win situation for me.

***Hannah has apparently recovered from her heartbreak over her boyfriend breaking up with her.  There have already been several “new” boys calling her (she thinks of it as really neat and exciting, while I think of it as sharks smelling fresh blood in the water), and I am grateful that she appears to be learning that there are always other options and she certainly doesn’t need to settle for less than she deserves and wants.

***And tomorrow is Halloween; this brings gratitude in the form of Mounds and Almond Joy.  I get first dibs on these items, as no one else likes them. 

***feels good today to be over (for the moment) my feelings of frustration and worry yesterday.  Although I might not get what I want in many, many ways, I know that I have everything I need, and for that I really am glad.  It hasn’t always been the case, as most of you well know, so indeed, progress is being made even if it doesn’t feel like it some days.

For more fragments of thoughts from a variety of really neat people, click on over to see Mrs. 4444.  You can even choose to take part today and add your name to the list; if nothing else, you might get a few new blogs in your Reader!